In order to season dishes with cheese or make cheese gratin dishes, it is a normal procedure to grate thin strips or chips from a chunk of so called hard cheese. The strips melt easily even if there is relatively thick layer or large mass of cheese strips in or on the dish, and this in contrast to the long time required for the melting of cheese slices in a dish which is heated.
In order to grate the cheese for forming such strips, it is common practice to use a grater of the type and design stated in the first paragraph of this specification. When using such a common grater, a suitably sized chunk of cheese is cut from the cheese piece, and the chunk is reciprocated by hand along the grater. The cutting of the cheese chunk often ruins the appearance and practical size of the cheese piece and, the chunk is easily broken during the grating operation, moreover an unusable chunk must normally be left, and finger injuries are often experienced. Alternatively one can try to hold the entire cheese piece in one hand and to reciprocate it on the grater, while holding it by the other hand, but the cheese piece is normally heavy and often weighs around one pound, and substantial power must be exerted for the grating work, which is tiresome and not easily controllable. Generally, the work with a conventional grater is messy.
Mill-type grating devices are also known, which can be used for grating cheese, but the disadvantages are again that a chunk must be cut from the cheese piece, that an unusable chunk normally is left, and moreover, there is the trouble of washing the device, which cannot easily be washed in a dish washing machine.
An object of the invention is to provide a simple grating tool, primarily for cheese, which avoids or reduces the above drawbacks and which effectively can be used on a cheese piece without the necessity of moving the cheese piece, and without the necessity of cutting a chunk to be grated from the cheese piece.
Other objects and advantages of the invention are mentioned or appreciated by the reader of the following specification.